For most of the
period between 1822 and 1973, when the monarchy was abolished by a
military junta, Greece had two national flags: the plain cross flag and the
cross-and-stripes flag. Generally though not at all times the former was used on land
within Greece and the latter was used at sea and overseas. Blue and white are the Greek
national colors, the cross is a symbol of Orthodox Christianity, and the nine stripes of
the cross-and-stripes flag are said to correspond to the nine syllables of the war cry in
the struggle for independence from Turkey: "Freedom or death."

The Kingdom of Greece used both flags,
with the war flag, war ensign and naval jack being distinguished by the addition of a
royal crown at the intersection of the cross. From 1833 to 1862, the crown
ensigned the arms of the Bavarian dynasty that supplied Greece
with its first monarch. With the accession of the Danish
dynasty in 1862, a crown alone was displayed. The air force flag
had the crown in the first quarter with the blue-white-blue
Greek roundel at the intersection of the cross. The
commissioning pennant was similar to that used nowadays by the
Hellenic Republic,
but longer and narrower. When flown from the main or principal
mast of a Greek warship the jack denoted the presence aboard of
the King or a member of the royal family.

Between 1926 and
1935 Greece was a republic and the royal crown was removed from
all flags.

At the beginning of the twentieth
century the rank flags for admirals and vice-admirals had
diagonal blue and white stripes in the hoist quarters; later
these were changed to white stars. From that point forward the
diagonal stripes were used to distinguish the flags of various
government ministers.
An exception was the flag of the Minister of Marine, which was a square version of the
naval ensign. The flags for admirals followed British practice: a plain cross for
admirals, with one and two stars being added for vice-admirals and rear-admirals
respectively. The broad pennants for captains commanding (later commodores) and the squadron commander's
pennant bore a
certain resemblance to the Danish naval ensign, possibly because the Greek royal house was Danish in origin.

The plain cross flag
and its variants were abolished in 1970. The crowns were again removed from all flags in 1973 when the
monarchy was abolished, but otherwise Greek flags did not greatly change.

Flag Proportions:
The Greek national flag and its variants have generally been made in 2:3
proportions. An exception was the cross-and-stripes flag and ensign of 1970-78, for which
7:12 proportions were specified.

Color Shades:
Traditionally, a shade of light blue (somewhat darker than sky blue) has been
employed for Greek national flags. In 1970, however, a much
darker blue began to be used, as illustrated below for the 1970-73 naval ensign
and jack. The light blue shade was restored when a new flag law was passed in
1978, though the law does not specify an exact color shade.